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Looking for tips on how I might approach soliciting advertisers to place ads on my site.... I'm not interested in running banner ads for pennies per click-through (that is, I already know how to do that)--but would like an advertiser to commit to my site and pay for running ads there. Is that happening? How would I go about approaching a potential advertiser? Thanks in advance.

Yes, in my experience it is fine to approach advertisers. I just e-mailed them and tell them a little about my site, hits per month etc. and ask them if they would be interested in advertising. If they say yes, then point them in the direction of your mediakit (you do have a mediakit, don't you ;-))... I have both been offered money and a "what can I get for that" and an amount of hits for an amount of money. I've also managed to haggle quite well. I don;t use proper ad banner software, I just keep an eye on my HitBox stats - none of my advertisers have minded.

Thanks, Ollie.... No, I don't have a media kit. Does anyone feel like pointing me to an article or something on the web that will help me develop one? Also, :| what's a Hit Box? Argh... so much to learn, so little time...

Hi Jean, a "Hit Box" is exactly what I told you about in my last post (I know, you haven't had time to read it yet ). Basically, ist's a statistics program which gives you a TON of information about where your visitors are comming from, what country they live in, what timezone, how many people visit your site, etc. VERY nice, and free: http://www.hitbox.com

About the MediaKit tutorial, I don't know of any off the top of my head. Sorry.

However, all a MediaKit is is basically a listing of demographics (i.e. information about your visitors: age, sex), some statistics (stuff you'd get from hitbox), and prices for ads. You might be tempted to link directly to your stats, however, I highly suggest not to do this, as it shows a less professional tone. However, it would be easy for a begginer, plus it assures your potential advertiser that you are not lying about your stats. So, I guess it's up to you.

Many thanks to Richard and Adam, and Ollie... I have installed Hit Boxes on each of my pages, and I am developing a "Media Kit." (Who knew this was an online entity?) As a social worker rather than computer professional, I am inching my way up the web-site knowledge ladder, with help from--and thanks to--folks like you!